ATLA The First Metalbender Book 2: Earth
by TyForestWrites2
Summary: (Book II)After the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe, Aang and Tyler have officially learned how to properly waterbend, with Katara as their new master. Now the crew is on their way to find an earthbending master. (Hinted Kataang) Be aware of random hiatuses...
1. Chapter 1: The Avatar State

**Chapter 1: The Avatar State**

 **Guess who's back? That's right, The First Metalbender is back! Hey guys, this is TyForestGames and I'm back to write Book 2! Before we get into this, I'd like to apologize for two things:**

 **One, I'm sorry about the delay. Other things came up, and I decided to write other stories that I felt would reach a broader audience.**

 **Two, I apologize if the first few chapters are... lackluster. Here's the thing, I don't like Book 2 nearly as much as I want to. Mainly the first few episodes. The good stuff will come when Toph is introduced, because, come on, who doesn't like Toph?**

 **Now, with apologies out of the way, let's jump into ATLA: The First Metalbender Book 2: Earth.**

 **XXX**

It had been a week or so since the Fire Nation Navy had attempted to take out the Northern Water Tribe. Image Tyler had learned quite a number of things in the aftermath, few being pleasant. Prince Zuko escaping, the moon disappearing for a short time, and, most of all, Princess Yue's sacrifice.

The next week had been mostly helping with reconstruction. Tyler never did find his metal, admittedly quite sad about that fact. It may have been a grim reminder of his time in the earthbender prison, but it still held sentimental value. But it didn't take much time to find a replacement, what with all the rebuilding.

But now, it was time to leave. Avatar Aang had to complete his training, and earthbending was next on the list. The Gaang's plan was to find the King of Omashu, Bumi, who just so happened to be one of Aang's old friends, both figuratively and literally. Master Pakku was talking about sailing to the Southern Water Tribe to reconnect with them. And he had come to see them off as they all got on Appa.

Pakku held up flask to Katara, and said, "Katara, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don't lose it."

Katara accepted the amulet gratefully and hugged her master, "Thank you, Master Pakku."

Pakku then turned to Aang and Tyler with a box of scrolls, "As for you two, these scrolls will help you master waterbending. But remember, they're no substitute for a real master."

Oh, right. Tyler had nearly forgotten that Katara had been somewhat illegitimately promoted as a 'waterbending master'. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that...

Pakku turned to Sokka and patted him on shoulder, leaving him dismayed, "Sokka... take care, son."

As the entire Gaang fixed into place, Pakku said one final word of direction, pointing out, "Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There, you will be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi."

Aang nodded and said, "Appa, yip yip!"

Katara waved to her master as they flew away, "Say hi to Gran-Gran for me!"

 **XXX**

Some time later, Sokka spotted something in the distance, and excitedly cried out, "There it is!"

Tyler spotted a very mountainous region, and they were headed towards a large, circular tower. He figured that was where this General Fong guy was. Appa flew down toward it landed inside. A bearded man in a green cap and brown and green armor stepped forward, along with numerous soldiers, as the group got their stuff together.

"Welcome, Avatar Aang!" the man said, spreading his arms out in greeting, "I am General Fong. And welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, Image Tyler, brave Sokka, the mighty Katara.

Katara smiled, pleased, 'Mighty Katara'? I like that."

Tyler pinched his nose, "Please don't inflate her ego..."

"What was that?" Katara glared.

"Nothing!"

Fireworks exploded behind them, and the four turned to look at them. A group of four earthbenders stepped forward, lifting small, green orbs from the ground and launching them into the air with their fists. As a result, more fireworks lit the sky.

"Not bad, not bad," Sokka said, everyone amazed.

 **XXX**

The General led them to the inside of the base, where they entered a large room with green-lit columns on each side of a central walkway. A desk was at the far end, with a large Earth Kingdom banner hanging from the ceiling. Aang, Tyler, Sokka, and Katara sat in the center of the room on a mat, and Fong sat at the desk.

"Avatar Aang," Fong began, stroking his beard, "We were all amazed at the stories of how you single-handedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility."

"I try not to think about it too much," Aang replied humbly.

The General smiled happily, "Avatar... you're ready to face the Fire Lord now."

"What?!" Aang cried, very alarmed, "No I'm not!"

"Whoa now," Tyler spoke in agreement, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here!"

"Aang still needs to master all four elements," Katara explained.

"Why?" Fong said, becoming worked up as he rose from his desk, "With the kind of power he possesses-power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes-he could defeat the Fire Lord now!"

Sokka raised his hand somewhat timidly, "But, sir, the thing is Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar state."

"See, it's this special state where-" Aang tried explaining before Fong interrupted heatedly.

"I'm well aware," then he continued on, a bit more gently, "Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power."

He walks around his desk, then approached a map of the Avatar world, "Without you we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation."

The General pointed at the map, drawing a line with his finger from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation.

Aang looked very uncertain with himself, "Right... but I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar state, much less what to do once I'm there."

General Fong faced the Gaang, "So it's decided then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar state, and then you'll face your destiny."

Sokka and Aang looked surprised, while Katara seemed angry and Tyler a bit annoyed.

"No, nothing's decided," Katara said irritably, "We already have a plan. Aang's pursuing his destiny his way."

"I understand that we want to win the war as soon as possible," Tyler put in, "But if we rush things, horrible stuff is bound to happen."

Fong returned to his desk, "Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. May I show you something?"

Fong, Aang, and Tyler walked over to a circular window overlooking two orange-roofed buildings. A large crowd was standing outside one.

"That's the infirmary," the General explained, "And those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back. Every day the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Aang! You could end it, now! Think about it."

It was at this point that Tyler was starting to not like this guy.

 **XXX**

Aang and Tyler entered the dimly-lit room from a door at the right. The two walked across the room as Katara rose from her bed. Aang sat down on his bed while Tyler remained standing.

Aang spoke quietly, "I told the general I'd help him... by going into the Avatar state."

"Aang, no," Katara said, "This is not the right way."

"Why not?" Sokka said, arms behind his head, "Remember when he took out the Fire Navy? He was incredible."

"There's a right way to do this," Katara argued, "Practice, study, and discipline."

"Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord."

"Guys, stop," Tyler spoke at last, "This is Aang's decision. If this is what he wants, then let him."

"If you meatheads want to throw away everything we've worked for, fine," Katara growled, "Go ahead and glow it up!"

"Katara, I'm just being realistic," Aang pleaded as Katara stomped away, "I don't have time to do this the right way.

Aang looked down sadly, almost ashamed.

 **XXX**

The next day, Aang was sitting at a table with a steaming teapot while a teacher talked, dropping something into the teapot with chopsticks.

"This rare chi-enhancing tea is a natural stimulant," the teacher explained, "In an ordinary warrior it improves strength and energy ten-fold. In you, it may induce the Avatar state. "

The teacher poured the tea into the cup in front of Aang. Sokka, Tyler, and Katara sat side-by-side, a few feet behind the young boy.

"Ten-fold energy, huh?" Aang said before slurping down the whole cup.

He then twitched a few times before he began to race around the small structure on his air ball while the others remained motionless.

"Is it working, is it working?" Aang spoke in a fast, high-pitched, hyper voice while zipping everywhere on his air-scooter, "I can't tell! Somebody tell me if I'm in the Avatar state 'cause I don't have a good view of myself! Am I talking too loud?"

"I guess he could talk the Fire Lord to death," Sokka muttered, unimpressed.

Aang then collided with a column, his air ball disappear and his shawl falling over his head, "Ooof!"

 **XXX**

Later, at the entrance gate to the base. Aang and Katara sit on the ground while Fong stood behind them, stroking his beard. Sokka and Tyler sat with their arms folded behind their backs.

"Maybe I can shock you into the Avatar state," Sokka suggested.

"I love surprises," Aang said cheerfully.

Katara covered his eyes with her hands. When she removed them, Momo's head had replaced Sokka's. The lemur screeched, causing Aang to lurch back in fear. But he looked at his hands and held them up.

"Still not glowing."

 **XXX**

Even later on, the group went to the temple. Aang stood in the center, wearing a ridiculous hat with leaves coming out of the top and a blue cape. Fong, Sokka, Tyler, and Katara stood at the right side of the room. A priest stood near a stairway.

"You are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations," the priest said pretentiously, "Now I will join the four elements into one!"

As he mentioned each element, he threw a pan of water, dirt, a torch, and blew air into a mixture, "Water, earth, fire, air! Four elements together as one!"

And he threw the mixture right in Aang's face, covering him in mud, startling the boy, "This is just mud!"

The priest gave Aang an odd look, "So... do you feel anything?"

Aang's nose began to twitch and he lifted up a finger. Fong, Sokka, Tyler, and Katara began to look hopeful... but Aang only sneezed.

"Aaaaachoooo!!!"

And they all got sprayed by the mud from Aang's sneeze.

Fong wiped his face and said, determined, "We have to find a way."

 **XXX**

That night, Aang jumped awake in bed and gasped, having just experienced a nightmare. He turned over towards Tyler.

"Tyler," the Avatar whispered, "Tyler, wake up."

"Wha...?" Tyler said groggily.

Aang sat up, looking weary, "I don't think we should be trying to bring on the Avatar state."

That caught Tyler's attention, waking him up just a bit, "You sure?"

"Yes."

"...Okay. I'm not gonna say I told you so, but okay."

"Do you think the general will be mad?"

"What can he say?" Tyler turned to his side, ready to go back to sleep, "You're the Avatar. Who knows better than you?"

 **XXX**

The next morning, Aang and Tyler walked to the Earth Kingdom base and stood in front of Fong's desk, followed by Sokka. The two explained Aang's dilemma and decision as best as they could.

"The thing is, I don't think we'll ever be able to trigger it on purpose," Aang finished, "So, I guess that's it."

"Sure I can't change your mind?" Fong said, sounding very disappointed.

"Sorry, sir," Tyler said, "Quality trumps quantity in this situation. Besides, given what I've seen and heard, Aang can only reach the Avatar state when he's in genuine danger."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tyler instantly regretted ever saying them. He only prayed to whatever gods existed that Fong didn't take advantage of that information. Unfortunately, those gods apparently didn't like the Image very much.

"I see," Fong said, "I was afraid you'd say that."

Fong stepped back, causing a small shock wave. He pushed forward, sending his desk flying at Aang. Not able to defend in time, the desk rams into the both of them. The desk rocketed toward a window. Sokka tried to go after them, but was restrained by two guards.

"Aang! Tyler!" he cried.

The desk crashed through the window, the desk, Avatar, and Image falling toward the ground, yelling out in terror. But using his airbender abilities, Aang slowed his fall with a gust of air, and Tyler brought out his metal, transforming it into s board, and starting gliding, catching Aang, and the two landed safely on the ground as the desk crashed and broke apart behind them.

Fong ran to the destroyed wall and pointed angrily at the two boys, "Men! Attack them!!"

Aang's eyes widened in surprise as four groups of three guards closed in around them. Tyler turned his board into a staff and got into a defensive stance. Fong leaped down from the tower and landed in front of the two, sending a wave of moving earth towards them. They leaped over it, narrowing avoiding the crest.

"What are you doing?!" Aang exclaimed as they landed.

Tyler looked at Fong, who was looking quite sinister as he said, "I believe we are about to get results."

The six earthbenders on either side of the two boys lifted circular discs of earth with square holes in the middle around themselves, then hurled them. The first two rolled towards them from both sides, Aang simply side-stepping them while Tyler took a more direct approach and used his staff to slice one of them in half.

"I am not your enemy!" Aang exclaimed, "I won't fight you!"

More discs were launched at the two, and Aang leapt over them as they collided right where he was standing, while Tyler defended by continuing to smash the discs flown at him with his metal. The Avatar landed on one of the upright discs, and another flew from the left and knocked it over. As he fell, two of the other discs closed in around him, but Aang scrunched in the square holes in the discs as they begin to roll.

Four earthbenders surrounded them, throwing their stone discs. Two collide horizontally and both boys leaped over them. The other two tried to smash them in between, but they both jumped through the hole in the middle of one of them. Aang and Tyler zoomed off on a ball of air and metal board respectively, while three earthbenders tried to raise walls of earth to stop them.

They zig-zagged between them and shot past two spear-wielding guards on ostrich-horses, the guards beginning to chase after them. Aang started gliding up the wall of the base with the creatures in pursuit, Tyler continuing straight forward. The Avatar began to tire out, his ball of wind disappearing and he just runs. Aang barely avoided the spears and began to fall, but Tyler caught him and they flew to the ground.

The boys landed on the ground, the creatures jumping down behind them. But they were standing on one of the disc-shaped portions of the floor, and Fong lifted it up with his earthbending, trapping Aang and Tyler in the center hold and bringing them to him.

"You can't run forever!" Fong scolded.

"You can't fight forever!" Aang retorted.

Fong jumped forward, smashing the ring with his foot. Aang and Tyler leaped and ran away as four discs fell from the sky. As a disc rolled after them, they ran between two groups of soldiers. Tyler spotted a soldier about to throw his disc at Aang, but then Sokka's trusty Boomerange hit his helmet and knocks him out cold. Tyler saw Sokka and Katara join the fray, the latter cutting a guard's spear in half before it could get Aang.

Sokka approached one of the ostrich-horses, its rider unconscious on the ground. He coaxed the animal, grabbing the reins, and leaping on the back of the creature and it took off running. Katara remains stationary, Fong lining up a group of discs around Katara. Aang and Tyler climbed the stairway of the tower behind the General, and Aang looked over his shoulder.

"Maybe you can avoid me," Fong told Aang, "But she can't."

The earthbenders used their discs to create a v-shaped wall, making sure that the only means of escape was by General Fong. Katara threw her stream of water at Fong, but he raised a patch of dirt, creating a patch of mud. Katara spun around and began to sink into the ground. She struggled to escape but doesn't budge.

"I can't move!" Katara exclaimed, straining against the ground.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang said, both he and Tyler enraged now.

They leaped down from the staircase and Aang shot a stream of air at Fong, who looked surprised, but quickly raised a wall of earth to protect himself. He lowered the wall, the turns back to Katara, who sunk deeper into the ground, who cried out.

Tyler charged toward Fong, but the General sunk the Image's legs into the dirt, doing the same to Sokka's ostrich-horse, Sokka getting tossed from it, landing in the hole of one of the discs.

Aang ran up to Fong, grabbing his arm, "Stop this! You have to let her go."

Fong looked down at Aang angrily and maliciously said, "You could save her if you were in the Avatar state."

Tyler could see the frustration and desperation on Aang's face. He even saw tears begin to form in the younger boy's eyes. Tyler wanted nothing more than to run up and sock Fong in the face, but both Tyler and his staff were stuck in the ground. But he was rage-filled. Aang is just a kid!! Nobody should put this kind of pressure on him!

"I'm trying..." Aang cried, "I'm trying!"

Katara continued to sink further into the ground, now up to her armpits, "Aang, I'm sinking!"

"I don't see glowing," Fong said, his tone now a mocking one.

Tyler pulled his metal with all the strength he had, but couldn't budge it. Of course, the one time he wanted to bludgeon someone, he was out of commission. Fong pushed his fist toward the ground and Katara sunk further, only her head remaining above ground.

Katara screamed, terrified, "Please!"

Aang dropped to the ground at Fong's feet, still clutching his hand, saying hysterically, "You don't need to do this!"

"Apparently I do."

Fong clenched his fist and Katara disappeared completely. Aang dove for her, but just barely missing her hands. And the arrow tattoos began to glow and he turned around, revealing that the Avatar State has been activated. He glared angrily at Fong as he rose.

Fong lifted his fist into the air in victory, exulting, "It worked! It worked!!"

A strong blast of wind hit Fong and he shielded himself with his arms. Aang was standing in front of him now, wind billowing around him. Fong's grin quickly faded as he became terrified. Aang launched a karate chop-like attack at Fong, who went flying backward and landed at the base of the tower. Aang lifted himself up in a vortex of dirt.

Fong got up, cupped his hands, and shouted at Aang, "Avatar Aang, can you hear me?! Your friend is safe!"

He raised his arms and Katara emerged from the ground, gasping, "It was just a trick to trigger the Avatar state, AND IT WORKED!!!"

Aang whirled around, his face angry. The vortex suddenly collapsed and Aang slammed into the ground, a cloud of dust shooting forward, sending Fong flying. Large chunks of earth rose from the ground, sending Earth Kingdom soldiers into the air. The wave of destruction crashes into the buildings around the base, cracking them apart.

Suddenly, Aang's body went limp, and he fell to the ground, no longer glowing. Katara ran towards him and they embraced.

"I'm sorry, Katara," Aang said, tired and remorseful, "I hope you never have to see me like that again."

Fong walked forward, spreading his arms, at the same time releasing Tyler and Sokka, "Hah! Are you joking? That was almost perfect! We just have to find a way to control you when you're like that."

"You're out of your mind," Tyler growled, stalking up to the General.

General Fong ignored him, "I guess we'll figure that out on the way to the Fire Nation."

Unfortunately for Fong, ignoring Tyler was a mistake. Tyler walked right up and smacked the General as hard as he could on the back of the head with his staff. Fong fell, knocked out cold.

Sokka rode up behind him on the ostrich horse, holding his boomerang, "Anybody got a problem with that?"

The soldiers all shook their heads in unison. Sokka dismounted as the soldiers approached the others and bowed.

"Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" one of the soldiers asked.

Katara smiled, "I think we're all set."

 **XXX**

 **Oh my gosh, freaking finally, am I right or am I right?! Man, it's amazing how much you can do if you're determined enough and stressed enough. I guess this is my escape from the clutches of college. Till next time guys!**


	2. Chapter 2: Return to Omashu

**Chapter 2: Return to Omashu**

"Well... that was... fun."

The group had just exited the Cave of Two Lovers, after being separated in two groups: Katara and Aang, and Tyler, Sokka, and a group of hippies with annoying music. Tyler had no idea what had happened with Aang and Katara, but had a feeling he didn't want to find out. He had enough to deal with due to the hippies. If Tyler heard that stupid banjo one more time, he'd smash it over the head over the guy that played it.

"The journey was long and annoying," Sokka said, "But now you get to see what it's really about: the destination."

As they mounted the top of the hill, Sokka presented the city, "I present to you the Earth Kingdom city of O..."

Sokka stuttered to a stop, devastated with the realization, "Oh, no..."

In front of them was the devastated fortress city of Omashu, surrounded by what appeared to be siege towers. The city was smoking and appeared to be on fire in several places. And on the main gate hung the flag of the Fire Nation.

"I can't believe it," Aang said, turning to face his friends, "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu always seemed... untouchable."

"Up until now, it was," Tyler grimaced as he looked at the ruined city, "Now Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."

"This is horrible, but we have to move on," Katara said.

"No," Aang said firmly, "I'm going in to find Bumi."

"Aang, stop," Sokka said, "We don't even know if Bumi's still..."

Aang turned to look at Sokka, his expression hardening, and replied defiantly, "What? If he's still what?"

Sokka found it hard to meet Aang's eyes, "...Around."

Katara spoke gently, "I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people around who can teach you earthbending."

"This isn't about finding a teacher," Aang said, "This is about finding my friend."

 **XXX**

The group traveled on Appa, the bison floating deep down in the city's moat to avoid being spotted. They stopped next to a capped drain pipe emerging from the wall.

"A secret passage?" Tyler asked.

"Why didn't we just use this last time?" Sokka asked as Aang tried to open the drain with his staff.

The cap popped off, releasing a huge gout of greenish sewage, some of which washed over Sokka.

"Does that answer your question?" Aang responded.

 **XXX**

After a long, disgusting crawl through the sewer pipe, the Gaang entered the city through a manhole. The streets were barren, the sound of silence made the entire city seem deserted. Tyler went out into the open first, using his bending to lift the manhole cover and drop it to the ground. Everyone else followed, and Tyler put the cover back on.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought," Katara said, fairly dry.

Sokka was not so lucky. The guy had so much gunk on him, he looked like a slime monster. Once they got the gunk off, Aang swung his staff at him, whipping a gale of the wind that blew him dry. Sokka raised his head to reveal two purple octopus like creatures stuck to both sides of his head. He cried out in terror, tugging at them hard, to no effect.

"They won't let go!" Sokka yelled, "Help! Aaaak!"

Aang and Tyler pinned on Sokka to a nearby wall andsat him down on a crate.

"Stop making so much noise," Aang scolded, "It's just a purple pentapus."

Aang rubbed the heads of the creatures, and they popped off with relative ease, leaving only spots where they once were. But as they removed the last one, a yell made them freeze.

"Hey!"

A patrol of Fire Nation guards entered the street, Aang quickly disappearing and reappeared a second later with a red, flat top hat on to hide his airbender tattoo.

"What are you kids doing out past curfew?" one of the guards asked.

"Sorry, sir," Tyler said quickly, "We were just on our way home."

The kids turned to walk away, Sokka bringing up the rear. But the guard notices the red welts on the back of Sokka's neck.

"Wait!" the guard asked, "What's the matter with him?"

The Gaang stopped and turned back around, and Katara puts her hands on her brother's shoulders, "Uh...he has pentapox, sir."

As the guard walked up to Sokka to touch him, Tyler panicked a bit, saying, "Um...it's highly contagious!"

The guard hesitated and pulled his hand back. Sokka realized the ploy and began to act ill... very dramatically. He raised his hands in front of him in a zombie-like fashion and began to moan.

"Uuuuuu..." he said, "It's so awful...I'm dyiiiing..."

"...And deadly..." Katara said.

Sokka continues to moan and lurch forward, the guards beginning to lurch backwards to avoid contact.

"Wait, I think I've heard of pentapox," one guard said, turning to one of his comrades, "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"

Sokka advanced, coughing and spitting up sewer gunk at them, sending the guards into a frenzy, one saying, "We'd better go wash our hands... and burn our clothes!"

The guards ran away in a hurry, and Sokka stopped his act and straightened up. The Avatar smiled, rubbing the head of the pentapus he held his hand.

"Thank you, sewer friend!" Aang thanked cheerfully.

 **XXX**

Later on, the Gaang were sneaking around the city, avoiding patrols of Fire Nation guards. They hid behind some construction material as a patrol passed by.

"Let's find Bumi and get out of here," Katara said.

"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked.

"Somewhere he can't earthbend," Tyler said as Aang was looking up and around, "Somewhere made of metal."

They kept sneaking around, spotting a caravan making its way through the street. Suddenly, there were boulders crashing down the hill, about to crush the caravan. The Gaang panicked, and Aang swung out his staff, creating wind that crushed the rocks into dust. Unfortunately, the people below saw them and misinterpreted the situation.

"The resistance!!" a woman, the governor's wife, cried out.

A girl, the governor's daughter, threw a hail of small arrows at them, all of which Aang and Tyler dodged, the arrows embedding into the wall. Katara and Sokka ran, pursued by Fire Nation soldiers, who were climbing up a couple ladders from the plaza below. Katara turned and used the water from her water skin to whip them off the ledge.

The girl, Mai, ran at Katara, her arms spread to either side. She fired another hail of arrows from some unknown mechanism around her hand and forearm. Katara created a wall of ice in front her, stopping the arrows. Mai continued the pursuit as Katara fleed. Aang and Tyler let Katara pass as they turned to face Mai.

As she approached, Tyler finally got a good look at her. She was a young woman about his age, with a large quantity of well coifed black hair. Her expression was emotionless, her eyes a light brown color. Despite her emotionless expression, she seemed like she was bored out of her mind until the trouble started.

Aang caused some construction scaffolding on his right to collapse between them. As the scaffolding collapsed, Mai is able to get one throwing star through the falling debris, but Tyler twirled his staff in front of him and stopped it just in time. The dust from the falling scaffolding cleared, once again giving Mai a clear shot.

She throws another hail of arrows, but the kids disappeared through a large trap door which closed instantly above them.

 **XXX**

The Gaang fell through a tunnel, landing in a large, underground clearing with green sewage drips from the ceiling. They rubbed their heads in pain and looked up. The cavern was filled with Earth Kingdom resistance fighters, the Resistance Leader standing on the ledge in front of the main exit tunnel from the room, which was lit by several lamps hanging from the walls.

They walked up to the leader and Aang asked, "So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?"

"Of course not!" Resistance Leader said with quiet intensity, "The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city... to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered."

The Avatar's eyes widened at the revelation and the Resistance Leader continued the story, "The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said..."

 **XXX**

 _Flashback_

 _King Bumi laughed hysterically, "I'm going to do... nothing!"_

 _Flashback End_

 **XXX**

"It doesn't matter now," the leader finished, "Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for."

"Actually there's another path to freedom," Aang put in, "You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."

"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!"

"I don't know," one Resistance Fighter said with uncertainty, "Living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me."

Another Resistance Fighter stepped forward, "Yeah, I'm with the kid!"

The cavern became filled with the whispers of other fighters and displaced citizens of Omashu speaking their agreement.

The Resistance Leader turned back to the kids and consented, "Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?"

Sokka stroked his chin in thought before blurring out in excitement, "Suckers!"

Everyone stared at him, bewildered, before Sokka smirked, "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."

 **XXX**

After a long day of gathering pentapi and sticking and unsticking them on the citizens of Omashu, the Gaang got everyone into the city.

Sokka raised his voice to address the crowd, "Okay everyone! Into sick formation!"

The citizens and Sokka walked to leave, and Katara and Tyler moved to join, but turned to see Aang heading in a different direction.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara asked.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Tyler questioned.

Aang turned to face her, "No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi."

Aang airbent himself to the surrounding rooftops and bounded away. Tyler thought for a few seconds before turning around and followed the rest of the citizens out of Omashu.

 **XXX**

One successful escape attempt later, Aang, along with Bumi's pet goat-gorilla, Flopsie, had made it back to the campsite that the citizens had set up. Aang hung his head sadly.

"We looked everywhere," he said, "No Bumi."

Katara hugged Aang as Flopsie makes sad noises, and Sokka hugged him. Tyler lowered his head in shame, feeling guilty that he didn't help Aang search.

The Resistance Leader walked up behind them, "We've got a problem. We just did a head count."

"Oh no," Katara said, "Did someone get left behind?"

"No..." the leader pointed, "We have an extra."

They turned to where he was pointing to see Momo walking towards them, a terrified expression on his face due to the baby that was attached to him around his neck.

 **XXX**

A while later, after Katara coddled the baby for a bit, the group received a letter via messenger hawk. Aang unrolled the message and read it.

"It's from the Fire Nation governor," Aang summarized, "He thinks we kidnapped his son. So...he wants to make a trade. His son... for King Bumi."

 **XXX**

After a near unanimous agreement, the Gaang was walking down a hill, Aang, still wearing his hat, carrying the baby in his arms. It had taken a bit of convincing, but the fact that Bumi was Aang's friend and possible earthbending teacher overruled any arguments.

"You know this situation screams 'Trap!', right?" Tyler asked, being the hesitant one.

"I don't think so," Aang replied, "I'm sure the Governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."

"Alright, but if things go south, I'll be there to say I told you so."

The group arrived at the bottom of the scaffolding of a huge statue that was under construction, Sokka now holding the baby. Not much later, three girls mounted the platform, Mai being one of them. One of them was a pretty, bright eyed girl with a long, black pony tail, dressed in red and pink. But the last girl seemed to be the leader.

This girl had golden/light brown eyes, black hair wrapped in a Fire Nation ponytail, and appeared to be just a bit younger than Tyler. But what caught the Image's attention was how she presented herself. The smirk on her face showed that she could have complete control over any situation thrown at her, a calm, collected persona. Not to mention, despite this, she looked darn terrifying. Tyler knew she must be someone to be feared.

The two groups faced each other at opposite ends of the construction platform, tension filling the air. At the top of the scaffolding, a crane was lowering a metal coffin suspended by a chain, and inside, the laughing and snorting of King Bumi could be heard. Sure enough, the coffin twisted on the chain to reveal Bumi's face, visible through a porthole just large enough for his face.

"Hi, everybody!" Bumi greeted as if nothing were wrong.

It was at this point Tyler realized that Bumi was completely off his rocker. The coffin landed standing straight up behind Mai and her friends.

"You brought my brother?" Mai asked.

"He's here," Tyler answered, "We're ready to trade."

The lead girl whispered to Mai, "I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?"

Mai turned to her, "Of course not, Princess Azula."

"We're trading a two year old for a king, " Azula turned to Bumi, "A powerful, earthbending king."

King Bumi just smiled, closed his eyes, and nodded at her, "Mmm hmmm!"

Azula turned back to Mai, "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

(Mai looked away from Azula and towards her brother in Sokka's arms. And Mai began to walk forward.

"You're right," Mai then said to them, "The deal's off."

She raised her left hand and Bumi was lifted back off the ground as the chain was reeled in from above.

King Bumi was enjoying himself, "Whhhoa! See you all later!"

"Bumi!" Aang cried.

Aang rushed towards Mai, Azula, and the third girl, Ty Lee, and Tyler chased him. Azula bent a plume of whitish blue fire at knee level towards them, both of whom jumped high into the air to avoid it. Tyler transformed his metal into a board and flew, mentally cursing himself later for revealing his own identity. Aang landed on part of the partially constructed building and jumped off again, opening his glider in mid air, but lost his hat, exposing his tattoo.

"The Avatar!" Azula said, surprised, but now looked smug, "And the Image... My lucky day."

Azula ran over to the elevator winch and released the break with a blast of blue fire. The winch began to spin rapidly as Azula grabbed one of the chains attached to the mechanism, raising her rapidly toward the top of the construction scaffolding.

Aang and Tyler landed atop Bumi's coffin as it continued its ascent, the king saying, "Aang, is that you? Where did you come from? And who is this new friend you have here?"

"Hang on!" Aang said, "We're gonna get you out of here."

The Avatar took a deep breath and began to blow on the chain connecting the coffin to the crane, slowly freezing it.

"Aang, stop your blowing for a minute," Bumi said.

The chain was now encased in ice just as an explosion of dust announces the arrival of Azula. She jumped high into the air after having been carried up at high speed by the winch. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as she unleashed a blast of blue fire from her foot at the two. Aang partially deflected it with his staff, but the chain holding the coffin broke.

"Now hold on just a-" Bumi tried to say something, but was too late due to the chain breaking and them falling, "Duahhh!!"

As they are about to hit one of Omashu's chutes, Aang created a huge airball that deflected their fall as Tyler tried to slow their descent as much as possible, finding the coffin a bit too heavy to metalbend properly. They landed in the chute and began to ride down it.

Azula watched from her perch, scowled, and jumped into a nearby box, which fell into a nearby chute. Aang and Tyler, meanwhile, surfed atop Bumi's coffin as it rocketed down the chute.

"Just like old times, isn't it, Bumi?" Aang smiled and laughed.

"Aang, I need to talk to you!" Bumi yelled.

But Aang couldn't understand him because of the noise, "It's good to see you too!"

"Aang, I don't think that's what he-HOLY!!!" Tyler tried to repeat, but cried out as Azula's flames nearly torched his back.

Aang and Tyler looked up to see Azula riding a box in a chute just above them. The Avatar began to twirl his staff rapidly to dissipate the blue fire bolts rapid fired at them by the girl. Their chutes merged, and Azula was now behind them. Aang launched a gale at her, but she parted it with her hands steepled in front of her.

She followed, launching more fire blasts at them before they finally entered a portion of the chute that has arches over it at short intervals. Tyler knocked them down with his staff and they came tumbling down on the chute between Azula and them. She and the box disappeared as they entered the dust cloud.

The box emerged from the other side without Azula. Both Aang and Tyler breathed a sigh of relief, but gasped in shock as she stood up from where she had been crouched in the box. She launches another blue blast of fire, but they ducks and avoids it.

"Are you kidding me?!" Tyler exclaimed, "Who is this chick?!"

Azula continued throwing blasts of blue fire ahead of her. Aang deflects them with his staff and Tyler blocked them with his metal as Appa and the others pull up alongside them.

"Hang on, Bumi!" Aang said, "Our ride's here!"

Aang struck the side of the chute with his staff, launching the coffin out of the chute, Tyler trying to lift it again. Katara and Sokka tried to grab the coffin as it passed overhead, but they missed and the coffin sailed over Appa and fell down the other side. Bumi screamed on the way down and they landed crosswise on another chute and broke right through it and fell through to another chute, this time landing lengthwise and they begin to slide down once more.

Azula continued to pursue them in her box and created a circular saw blade of blue fire and launched it at the coffin. As it approaches, Bumi strained in his bonds and caused a pillar of earth to rise up through the chute just in time to absorb the blast. Azula jumped out of her box just as it impacted the pillar of earth. She slid to a halt in the chute, looking displeased, and she watched the three slide away.

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, Bumi's coffin began to plane out as it reached the bottom of the chute.

"You could earthbend all along!?" Aang yelled.

"Well, they didn't cover my face," Bumi retorted, straining again within his bonds, then an outcropping of rock appeared at the end of the chute.

The coffin hit it as it exited the chute and ended up standing straight up on the newly raised rock, Aang and Tyler landing on the ground.

"I don't understand," Aang said, getting angry, "Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?!"

"Listen to me, Aang," Bumi explained, "There are options in fighting, called jin. It's a choice of how you direct your energy."

"I know!" Aang replied, holding up his fingers as he counted them off, "There's positive jin when you're attacking, and negative jin when you're retreating."

"And neutral jin," Bumi added, "When you do nothing!"

Aang was startled, looking at his hand which now had three fingers raised, "There are _three_ jins?!"

"Well, technically there are eighty five. But, let's just focus on the third. Neutral jin is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."

"Man, I'm good at that already..." Tyler muttered, remembering all of his time doing nothing in that earthbending prison.

"That's why you surrendered, isn't it?" Aang said with dawning understanding.

"Yes," Bumi answered, "And it's why I can't leave now."

Aang looked down and turns away, clearly sad and disappointed, "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending."

"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jin," Bumi said, "You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."

Momo appeared and jumped onto Aang shoulder and chittered, Aang smiling at him, "Hey, Momo!"

King Bumi laughed, "Momo's mastered a few jins himself!"

Momo just looked at Bumi and screamed.

"Goodbye, Aang," King Bumi said, "I'll see you when the time is right."

Bumi leaned back and his coffin tumbled back into the chute. Laughing maniacally, Bumi used his earthbending to drive his coffin back up.

"No offense, Aang," the Image said, "But your friend seems a little... nuts."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Aang grinned as Appa and the others appeared.

 **XXX**

It was nighttime now, the Governor holding his wife, still crying of the 'kidnapping' of their son. Tyler glided silently down from above them, and released the baby, who toddled over to his parents. Tyler departed as silently as he came and the baby was greeted with joy.

"Tom-Tom!" the Governor's wife gasped, holding onto her child for dear life.

Tyler watched from the roof with a smile, then flew away.

 **XXX**

 **Well, I can honestly say, I'm excited now! Azula has been introduced! Seriously, if not for Mark Hamill as the Fire Lord, Azula would be my favorite villain. And if you're wondering why I skipped "The Cave of Two Lovers", well... let's be honest, it's a pointless episode, really only meant for filler, and I couldn't find a good way to incorporate Tyler into it. So I included the end of it as a prologue for this chapter. Till next time guys!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Swamp

**Chapter 3: The Swamp**

Tyler didn't recognize the place they were flying over until it was too late. In fact, he was asleep until Sokka started shouting.

"Aang! Why are we going down?"

"What?" Aang muttered, wiping his forehead with his hand, as Tyler groaned awake, "I didn't even notice."

Tyler's vision started to clear up and he looked around. Sure enough, Appa was descending at a steady rate.

"Are you noticing now?" Sokka said sarcastically.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked.

Aang looked down with a slightly fierce expression, "I know this is gonna sound weird, but... I think the swamp is... calling to me."

"Wait..." Tyler mumbled, still trying to wake up, "Swamp?"

Sokka held his stomach, "It is telling ya where we can get something to eat?"

"No, I... I think it wants us to land there," Aang replied.

"No offense to the swamp," Sokka said, "But I don't see any land there to land on."

"I don't know... Bumi said to learn earthbending, I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know..." Katara put in, "There's something ominous about that place."

As Appa continued to descend, Tyler peered over the saddle to look as they get closer. And that eerie feeling he got from months ago... and his eyes widened at the familiarity of the swamp.

"Aang, pull up," Tyler commanded.

"What?" Aang asked, now confused.

"AANG!!! PULL UP NOW!!!"

But before anyone could do anything, there was a load noise, and a moment later, a large tornado appeared out of the swamp, moving at terrifying speed in pursuit of the kids, tearing up the swamp as it went.

Appa tried desperately to evade the tornado, Aang manipulating the reigns furiously. But by then, the tornado was right on top of them, and they were unable to distance themselves. As the whirlwind came down on them, Sokka was blown off the saddle, Katara catching his arm and Tyler catching his leg, and they held on for dear life. As Sokka screamed, Aang jumped out of the driver's seat and onto the saddle. He then instantly created an air bubble around them and Appa just as they were sucked into the tornado.

They fell back into the saddle as Aang struggled to keep out the whirlwind. He failed, though, as one of Appa's toes began to stick out of Aang's protective air blister. Aang's barrier collapsed and they were engulfed in the tornado, which threw them out in all different directions. Appa was ejected deep into the swamp, knocking down much in his path as witnessed by the dust and dirt cloud that erupts over the swamp canopy.

The Gaang landed inside the swamp and into the muddy water. It was dark in there, even though it was still daytime, since the swamp canopy blocked out most of the sunlight. A second later, Aang dropped in, using his airbending to cushion his fall. Sokka, Tyler, and Katara got up out of the water, Sokka rubbing his head and making pained sounds.

"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang asked, airbending himself through the trees and emerged at the top of the tree canopy, calling fruitlessly, "Appa!! Momo!!"

"Sokka!" Katara warned, "You've got an elbow leech!"

Sokka freaked out, "Where?! Where?!"

After he stopped moving, it was clear that the leech was hanging from his elbow.

Tyler crossed his arms and looks coolly at him, "Where do you think?"

Sokka angrily ripped off the leech and threw it near Katara, "Why do things keep attaching to me?!"

Katara looked angrily at her brother for a moment before Aang swung on a vine back towards them and she asked, "You couldn't find them?"

"No..." Aang answered sadly, "And the tornado... it just disappeared."

 **XXX**

Later on, realizing they had to find their animals as quickly as possible, the Gaang made their way through the swamp. Sokka just... wasn't in a good mood, using his machete to cut through vines and leaves.

Aang looked concerned at this, "Maybe... we should be a little nicer to the swamp."

Sokka continued to chop through the vines anyway, saying, "Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say "please" and "thank you" as I swing my machete back and forth?"

Katara also looked concerned, "Maybe you should listen to Aang. Something about this place feels... alive."

Sokka was now slightly annoyed as he gestured with his machete, "I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here, and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can."

As Sokka began cutting again, Katara addressed Tyler, "You seemed a bit panicked before we were sucked up by that tornado. What was that about?"

"Probably because I've been here before," Tyler answered bluntly.

"Wait, what?" Aang said, very surprised.

"I crashed here on my way to find you guys," the Image explained, "I experienced the same thing you did. Before I knew it, I had hit a tree and fallen into this swamp. I decided to explore a bit before getting into the air again. While I was here, I experienced... something weird."

"What was it?" Sokka asked, now intrigued.

"I encountered... a hallucination. I saw a girl, and she looked like she was from the Water Tribe. But that wasn't what caught my attention. She seemed to be training... but she was firebending."

"What?!" Katara exclaimed, "A girl from _our_ tribe... _firebending_?!"

"That's exactly what I thought. But before I could say anything, she was gone. Like dust in the wind. Something's definitely off about this place. I have no idea what it was trying to tell me, but I doubt I want to find out."

"Oh please," Sokka said, not believing his friend at all, "That sounds like you hit your head too hard. Now come on, we better start a campfire."

After they had stopped to ponder what Tyler had said while Sokka got firewood, Katara asked, "Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?"

Sokka responded in annoyed tone, "Please, we're all alone out here."

He started swatting at a fly with his machete and missed, but suddenly, the fly turned into a ball of incandescent light. The kids shielded their eyes from the light, and right behind them in the swamp, many glowing eyes looked at them up and down. The Gaang turned their heads to look at the sinister eyes.

"...Except for them," Tyler mumbled, scared now.

The eyes disappeared behind them, and they grabbed each other in a group hug, Sokka now terrified, "Right, except for them."

The fire began dying out by the time they got in bed. Unbeknownst to them, vines snaked their way across the ground, winded around each of their legs, and then around their whole bodies. They woke up screaming, all of them being pulled in different directions.

 **XXX**

Once Tyler got himself free, he got up and tried to find his friends, but ultimately knew there was only a slim chance of finding them. This swamp really loved to mess with his mind. The disembodied voices didn't help either.

Oh yeah, there were disembodied voices. Probably what creeped him out the most was that every voice he heard was his voice. And he was fairly certain that he had never said these things before in his life.

 _"What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to go all out and show you just how powerful I am."_

 _"You're in my world now."_

 _"Just because... I know I'm going to die... doesn't mean I want to..."_

 _"I'm sorry..."_

But the next voice wasn't his at all. It was a girl's. She was introducing herself, but her name was muffled out, much to Tyler's confusion and frustration. It kinda sounded like this.

 _"My name is K(muffled). I'm here to help."_

"If you're gonna make me hear voices, swamp," Tyler grumbled, "At least have the common courtesy to give me their name..."

But the next voice sent shivers down his spine, despite not knowing this voice either.

 _"NO MATTER HOW MANY OF YOU THERE ARE, YOU'LL NEVER STOP ME!!!"_

 _"YOU'RE PERSISTENCE AMUSES ME!"_

 _"SORRY KID, BUT YOU'RE MY PUPPET NOW! HAHAHA!!!"_

He covered his ears, getting a bit freaked out by the constant voices, and when sounds of battle became assimilated with them, Tyler took off running, not wanting the Post Traumatic Stress to kick in. And eventually, he smashed into the rest of the Gaang... literally. They had all ran into a clearing at the same time and ran right into each other.

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" Sokka exclaimed, "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara said, displeased with Sokka's attitude.

Aang airbent himself to his feet, "I was chasing some girl."

"What girl?" Tyler asked.

Aang helped Katara to her feet, "I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress."

"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka said sarcastically.

Katara was quiet and looked down, "...I thought I saw Mom."

There was a pause again before Sokka said, "Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here."

"You saw something too?" Katara asked him.

Sokka turned away, "I thought I saw Yue. But, that doesn't prove anything. Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw Mom, someone you miss a lot."

"What about me?" Aang put in, "I didn't know the girl I saw."

"Neither did I the first time I came here," Tyler added, "And I didn't see anything this time. But I heard voices. But they were all my voice, saying things I've never said before. And then I heard a girl introduce herself, but her name was muffled out. And for some reason, I think it might be the same girl from my last vision."

Tyler opted to not tell them about that last voice. What he had said was far too eerie to discuss right now.

"And all our visions led us right here," Aang finished, scanning around as if looking for something.

"Okay... so where's here?" Katara said, gesturing in front of them, "The middle of the swamp?"

"Yeah, the center..." Aang answered.

Tyler looked up and realized that they were standing at the base of the largest tree imaginable.

"It's the heart of the swamp," Aang explained, "It's been calling us here... I knew it."

Sokka got very frustrated, "It's just a tree. It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here!"

Tyler was about to retort, but at that moment a huge swamp monster, seemingly made of vines, burst from the water behind a log. The four kids cried out in terror.

"You want to say that again, Sokka?!" Tyler yelled.

The monster was made out of swamp vines and had a very simple, carved wooden mask on its face. The vine monster swung at the Gaang, and the four broke up and ran in different directions. The monster grabbed Sokka as he ran away and began flailing him around. Aang turned and knocked Sokka out of the monster's grip with a blast of air and Sokka fell into the water with a yell.

The monster then knocked Aang way back with a sweep of its arm. Sokka cut the vines around him with his machete as more the vines start rising out of the water. The vines attached themselves to the monster and rebuilt the right arm that Aang had damaged with his blast of air when he released Sokka. The monster swung at Sokka and grabbed him again.

Katara skated across the water in a graceful curve and fired a jet of water through the creatures left shoulder. The creature dropped Sokka again, a large hole in its left shoulder. Katara squared off against the creature as it filled the hole with more vines. Katara skirted around the monster as it swung a few times and missed. She sprayed some water at it and then concentrated, building a large wave and washed the creature backwards. Sokka screamed, as he is once again in the monster's clutches.

Tyler then ran next to Katara and parted the water between them and the monster. Both of them ran down the dry earth in front of them, but the creature knocked them backwards with vines that grew right out from its body.

Aang ran back to the fight as Katara and Tyler sailed the other way, yelling as they went. Aang turned back just in time to get smacked backwards by another vine appendage. The monster placed Sokka on its chest and began to suck him in, with Sokka struggling, but to no avail.

Tyler and Aang approached rapidly across the water, seated on his metal board and airball respectively. They rode up the monster's torso and back as the monster swung at him and misses. Aang landed atop its head and began to make a whirlwind around the monster. The whirlwind twisted the vines that composed the monster into a huge coil. Meanwhile, Tyler began to try to freeze the water to entrap the monster.

Katara made a few waterbending motions then blew a breath out that froze the water vapor in front of her and froze the vines around Sokka. She rose a column of water behind her that propelled her and Sokka through the chest of the monster and into the water behind. The monster repaired the hole in its chest and began to advance on the pair.

Aang and Tyler jumped through the air and landed on the monster's back, but jumped back onto the ground and the monster blasted them out of the way again. They went flying through the air and landed back in the water.

Katara turned back to the monster, an expression of determination on her face. She began to rapidly fire loops of water at the monster as it approached. The loops got larger the farther they got from Katara and as they struck the monster, the water sliced the vines apart. Tyler caught a glimpse of the inside of the monster, realizing that there was a man inside the monster. Katara continued to rapid fire and the monster began to disintegrate, revealing a few more glimpses of the man inside.

"There's someone in there!" Tyler exclaimed, realizing what the man was doing, "He's bending the vines!"

Katara twirled around in a bending move and sliced the mask and the head of the monster with a mighty lash of her water whip. The head and mask fell into the water as a bunch of vines grabbed Katara. Sokka and Tyler watched as Aang flew back into the picture and, with a single blast of air, blew away the rest of the monster to reveal a fat, leaf clad man.

Aang looked at the man angrily, "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?"

The man dropped the rest of the vines around him, "Wait! I didn't call you here."

"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land," Aang replied.

"He's the Avatar," Sokka explained, "Stuff like that happens to us... a lot."

"The Avatar!" The man said, surprised, "Come with me."

 **XXX**

The kids and the man, who introduced himself as Hue, were climbing the exposed roots of the great tree at the center of the swamp.

"So, who are you then?" Katara asked.

Hue bent a vine out of their way, "I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it."

He let them pass, before aiming his next statement at Sokka, "Like this fellow with his big knife."

"See? Completely reasonable," Sokka said, not getting the message, "Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it."

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right," Hue replied, "It's sacred."

Hue sat down, "I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree. I hear it callin' me, just like you did."

"Sure ya did," Sokka said sarcastically, "It seems real chatty."

"See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles..." Hue said, "Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more; one big living organism, just like the entire world."

"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Tyler said.

"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree? If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked.

"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved... folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."

"But what about my vision?" Aang asked, "It was someone I had never met."

"Same here," Tyler put in.

Hue smiled, "You're the Avatar and Image. You tell me."

"Time is an illusion... so, it's..." Aang said to himself before looking up at Hue, realization spreading across his face, "Someone we will meet?"

Hue smiled and winked at the two. Sokka stood up and addressed the group.

"Sorry to interrupt the lesson," he said, "But we still need to Appa and Momo."

"I think I know how to find them," Aang replied, leaning forward and placing his hand on the tree root.

He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, "Everything is connected."

The arrow tattoo on Aang's hand began to glow. In a few moments, the tattoos stopped glowing and Aang looked up hurriedly.

"Come on! We've got to hurry!"

 **XXX**

They found Appa and Momo tied up and ready to be eaten by a duo of men in boats, both dressed like Hue. Aang launched a jet of water beyond the boats and destroyed the one farther one that does not contain the two men.

Aang appeared on the tree branch that held his pet bison, "Appa!"

Aang unleashed a blast of air that knocked one guy off the boat. He dropped the bag with Momo as he flew off and Momo got out and flew away.

"We're under attack!" one of the men yelled.

One waterbent a wall of water up at Aang and Katara, who had joined Aang on the tree branch, which they bent away from them. Katara bent back and forth as she manipulated the water.

"Hey," Katara realized, "You guys are waterbenders!"

"You too?" one guy said, "That means we're kin!"

Katara looked vaguely horrified at that thought, the water wall collapsing between them. Sokka, Tyler, and Hue ran up the tree branch to Aang and Katara and looked down.

One guy put his hands on his hips and smiled, "Hey, Hue! How you been?"

Hue smiled sheepishly, "You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual."

 **XXX**

They all made campfire and the kids and the swamp men, the two men introducing themselves as Due and Tho, around it. They were all eating meat off shish-kabobs.

"How you like that possum chicken?" Due asked, a catfish crocodile sitting just behind Hue and Tho.

"Tastes just like arctic hen," Tyler admitted, finding it surprisingly tasty.

"So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?" Sokka said, examining his kabob and pointing at the catfish crocodile, "You've got plenty of those big things wandering around."

Due looked at him incredulously, "You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!"

Due took a fish off his kabob and tossed it at Slim, who ate it in one bite.

"Nice Slim!" Sokka said nervously, throwing a piece of roasted insect at Slim, but it bounced off his mouth.

Slim turned and growled at Sokka, who recoiled in terror.

Due laughed, "Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's people food."

"Where d'you say you're from?" Tho asked

"The South Pole," Katara answered.

"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here," Tho said, "They got a nice swamp there, do they?"

"No, it's all ice and snow," Tyler said.

Tho and Due looked surprised, Tho saying, "Hmm. No wonder you left."

Sokka turned to his sister in a slightly sanctimonious tone, "Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here. Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp."

"What about the visions?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you, we were hungry," Sokka argued, lifting up his meal, "I'm eating a giant bug!"

"But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were?" Aang asked.

"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count," Sokka retorted before turning to Hue, "The only thing I can't figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down."

"I can't do anything like that," Hue said, "I just bend the water in the plants."

Sokka tried to sweep the issue under the carpet, "Well, no accounting for weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp."

Suddenly, Sokka felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to look, but there was nothing.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed, looking around.

Everyone else laughed, but admittedly not knowing who tapped Sokka's shoulder... except for Tyler, who kept on smirking, nobody noticing the metal that reentered his pocket.

 **XXX**

 **Well... I actually did not plan for Tyler to hear that last voice... Looks like someone decided to make a cameo...**

 _You got that right! I thought I just have to warn Tyler of what's coming! And tell him to stay **out of it**._

 **Whatever. I'll stop you when we get to that point. Till next time guys!**


End file.
